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Published: November 1st 2010
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It has been over six weeks since I made my return back to my hometown in Canada. Over the course of this period of time I have caught up with friends and family, watched my life come to a stand still as minutes turned into uneventful days and melancholic weeks. There has been some good road-trips (Cape Breton), and it was fun to celebrate my birthday on home turf. When I booked my flight home I kept in mind that I wanted to celebrate Halloween in Canada. Last year I spent Halloween in south island New Zealand where it is not widely celebrated, so this year I was looking forward to the commercial holiday of Halloween in Canada. I wanted to dress up, drink and have fun with my friends.
This year one might have seen one Napoleon Dynamite, one Dead President and one Scooby Doo crammed into one little truck (nick named the Mystery Machine) on the Miramichi area. We visited friends, met more friends and attended a few bars in the town. We laughed, we danced, we drank, we embarrassed our characters and enjoyed countless acts of randomness. I love Halloween. It happens to be my favourite event
of the year. It's the one day a year that people dress up, relax, let loose or behave differently than usual. Once face paint, masks, wigs, glasses, or crazy clothing are added everyday people take on different person-as, no longer concerned of their regular social behaviour. People dance freely, relieved of there normal behaviour by the character their costumes dictate. Our night was nothing short of legendary status. We became dancing gods and goddesses, the jokes and laughs growing with outrageousness as the night progressed. Impromptu guitar solos and dance moves. One person in our group followed around an elderly Batman while annoyingly singing the Batman theme and even Scooby Doo hung his head out the car window while barking at the outside air.
It has been 6 weeks of being back home and it has been a roller-coaster of contrasts, future planning and even emotions. I returned from a busy lifestyle in Melbourne to be greeted to the quiet country side Canadian community I grew up in. The lack of noise, activities and the lack of the city buzz was a hard change. I found myself restless, on edge and getting depressed from my quiet daily routine. I
visited friends in different East Coast cities and towns to help ease my restless feet. I decided to put my car up for sale so my future travels could linger on a while longer. I recently have chosen to not sell my car as I will need it on my return and in my reintegration into a normal life, plus I had a lack of interested buyers. Being home has been like meeting the ghosts of Gifton's past. I see my old life, I see the quiet 2 years I spent unhappily working, dealing with the demons of being uninspired and bored and the battle to mellow that constant itch that comes with the travel bug. I was near to adjusting my flight ahead a few weeks so I could get some excitement in my life. Being home has motivated me to keep moving, so much to see and do before my life becomes work, bills and even scarier, predictable.
During the last six weeks I have been an emotional rollercoaster contrasting from extreme happiness to being melancholic. Trying to make decisions about my future and create a clear path ahead. Life is not so black and white
and pressuring myself to figure something out proved to be negative. But I am now on track, looking forward to my next few months on the road and have planted some ideas in my brain about what I will do upon my return.
I owe a big thank you to my parents for the food, accommodation and love. The legendary Jason for the laughs and impromptu times, other big thank yous needed to be shouted to Chris and Shelly, my big sis Bev for the chats, the beer and the life and love advice. Gerry for the drives, beers and laughter. The Sturgeon family for laughs and chats. Lori for being my parnter in crime for my birthday celebrations. Nick, Steph, Courtnay, Jerry and Janet for everything in Halifax. Eric and Miranda for the laughs and tours of Saint John.
I am now recharged, re-motivated, and repacked (with a much smaller backpack) in anticipation of my return to Australia. The time spent figuring what I should be doing with myself has just lead to me deciding that I need to be travelling, learning about myself, meeting new people, seeing new sights and doing this while I have the
luxury of youth, time and support from my family on my side. The trees are now bare, their leaves of golden colours lay decomposing on our lawns and streets. A thin layer of frost coats the windscreens of cars, glistening in the early morning sun. The air begins to nibble on noses and ears foreshadowing that the biting will soon begin. Clouds threaten snow flurries and yes the parkas and winter coats are only weeks or days away from being the fashion. Don't get me wrong I like autumn, but I look forward to the rays of a Southern sky in Australia. Everything has been sorted, all that is left to do is enjoy my last hours with those special to me, pack and get ready to be on the move.
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